Hertfordshire Chorus - Masses by Will Todd and Anton Bruckner

It is twenty one years since David Temple MBE and the Hertfordshire Chorus commissioned Will Todd to write a jazz-style mass, and twenty years since the first performance of Jazz Mass, later renamed Mass in Blue. With its upbeat jazz setting of the Latin mass, it has become one of the most successful commissions in modern choral music. Mass in Blue has been sung by hundreds of choirs across the world, often accompanied by Will and his band.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary we are reuniting with Will on piano, accompanied by his ensemble and soprano soloist Hilary Cronin.

We pair this with Bruckner’s ground-breaking Mass in E minor. Unlike any other 19th century liturgical music, it was written solely for wind band and eight-part choir. Inspired by Italian Renaissance polyphony, it combines a devout simplicity of expression with Bruckner’s own expressive harmonies, using powerful combinations and contrasts of vocal and instrumental texture to create one of his finest works.